Cape Cod beaches offer lots of variety for people who like warm, cold water

Perhaps the biggest single reason vacationers head to Cape Cod for their summer breaks is the beautiful beaches.

It is funny, though, how little some visitors know about differences between some of these swimming spots.

When some folks think about swimming in Cape Cod Bay, for example, they think, “oh, the water’s cold there.” Well, sometimes it is.

But the fact of the matter is the water temperature in the bay can change from day to day, and it is often not as cold as some of the most popular beaches on the outer Cape. In early July, the water temperature was in the low 60s. By mid August, it could well be in the low 70s on some days.

Cape Cod is in an ideal spot to get different water temperatures.

Some of the most beautiful beaches are along the outside of the lower Cape like Nauset Beach in Orleans, or at the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown, for example. While the waves at beaches on the outer Cape are often best for surfing, the water temperature is as low as you can find on the Cape.

Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, seen in this file photo, is listed as No. 9 on the 2013 list of Top 10 Beaches produced annually by coastal expert Stephen P. Leatherman, also known as "Dr. Beach," director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research.Margo Tabb / Cape Cod Chamber of Commcerce

People love Nauset Beach. Hillary H. of Providence, R.I., ranks it on the website, Yelp.com. “the beach of my youth. There’s no way you can convince me it isn’t the best beach in New England - that would just hurt my pride.

"The water is freezing, the waves are pretty large for New England, and the facilities are well-maintained and convenient. The sand is super-fine and clean, and that view, man. It’s pretty close to perfect," she says.

Lighthouse Beach in Chatham, just south of Nauset Beach, is the largest beach in Chatham and is also considered by some one of the best on the Cape, second only to Wellfleet’s Coast Guard Beach.

This is a beach where you can watch the seals pass by during their daily migration to South Beach toward Monomoy Island. The website MyChatham.com points out that there are no bathrooms, lifeguards or food service by this beach – named because of its proximity to the Coast Guard’s lighthouse, so it’s not a family oriented beach in the traditional sense.

The reason the water on Atlantic Ocean-facing beaches is so cold is that the Labrador Current passes to the east.

The current flows south from the Arctic Ocean south along the coast of Labrador. Even when the Cape is experiencing some of its hottest weather in the summer, the water temperature at beaches like Coast Guard Beach in Eastham can often be in the 50s.

If warmer water is what your after, the south-facing beaches along Nantucket Sound are much warmer. It is not unusual for water temperatures at Craigville Beach in the town of Barnstable, for example, to reach the mid-70s.

This is because the Gulf Stream runs up from Florida to the Cape’s south, and boosts temperatures there quite a bit.

West Dennis Beach, located on the east side of Bass River, is over a mile long and has plenty of parking right along the side of the beach. It’s a great spot for sailboarders, kite flying and playing all sorts of fun water and beach games.

Commenters on Yelp disagree about how good the beach is. Some love it. Some think it’s overrated. It’s one of my favorites because of the warm water, expansive beach and great amount of parking. But it does get its share of seaweed, as south facing beaches often do, and despite the warm water, that bothers some people.

The beach to go to over in Barnstable is Craigville Beach, according to the Cape Cod Times.

Craigville Beach, the Times says, is probably the most popular beach in Barnstable. A “favorite of teens and college students” it appeals to all ages. “The massive beach area allows for lots of sunbathers and swimmers, and the parking lot holds an equal amount of cars.” Unlike some Cape beaches, Craigville is equipped with showers and bathrooms.

Over on the north side of Barnstable is the six-mile Sandy Neck Beach. While the beach is located in Barnstable, the access road comes from the town of Sandwich.

Like many bay side beaches, conditions at Sandy Neck change from year to year, largely due to winter storms. Rocks lie under this and many bay beaches. Depending on the year, one section of the beach is likely to be smooth, and another section rocky. The next year, winter storms will cover rocks in those areas, and uncover rocks in others. So just because you find Corporation Beach in Dennis filled with pebbles one year, doesn’t mean it will still be that way the next.

“Sandy Neck Beach is a beautiful beach with high sand dunes facing the bay. A limited area near the parking lot was recently re-sanded using sand dredged from the nearby Cape Cod Canal. Aside from that spot, there are many rocks mixed in with the sand along the high-tide zone further down the beach and on the off road vehicle areas. We recommend planning your day around low tide as the flats offer a sandier area to sit in your chair or toss a football.”

Many people enjoy taking a four-wheel-drive vehicle onto the beach.

Now here’s the thing about the water in Cape Cod Bay. Depending on the direction the wind is blowing any given day, the water can be cold – in the low 60s, or more moderate, in the 70s.

Think of Cape Cod Bay as a big bathtub: as the weather gets warmer, it warms up the surface of the water. If there is no breeze on any given day, the warm water stays put. If there is an off-shore breeze, the wind blows the warmer surface water into the middle of the bay. If there is no breeze, or an on-shore breeze, the warmer water is pushed toward the land. This is why a swim can be quite comfortable one day, and quite brisk or “refreshing” as my father used to say, another. Rarely, except in very early or late summer, is the water as cold as can be found at beaches such as those found on the Atlantic side of the National Seashore.

Some towns, like Barnstable, Dennis and Eastham, have beautiful bay side beaches. Other towns, like Yarmouth and Brewster, have lesser access – access that is limited by marshes, or by the fact that at low tide, the water goes out so far, it is impossible to swim.

Dennis has perhaps some of the best bay side beaches. On the one hand, the blizzard of 1978 took out the parking lot at the Chapin Memorial Beach – a beach where one could walk endlessly on flats at low tide. When the storm demolished the parking lot, the town’s Conservation Commission limited the size of the new parking lot that replaced it so as to protect sand dunes and coastal wetlands.

However, just up the road, the town took a large stretch of beach land and created what is one if its two most popular beaches – Mayflower Beach. Mayflower has beautiful white sand, with few rocks. Because of its beauty, its parking lot fills up quickly in the summer, so if you want to go to this beach, you have to get there early.

First Encounter Beach in Eastham is another beautiful bay beach. It is known for its calm, a panoramic view of the bay, expansive flats at low tide and low sand dunes.

First Encounter, the Cape Cod Times notes, is a place with historic significance. “It was so named because it is the site of the first encounter between Native Americans and the Pilgrims prior to their settling in Plymouth,” the Times points out.

Right at the tip of the Cape, in Provincetown, is Race Point Beach, complete with Atlantic Ocean surf, facilities and a lifeguard station. It’s literally at the end of Cape Cod, complete with a lighthouse.

Then there are tons of fresh water ponds. I would have to ask, if you prefer fresh water, why would you go to Cape Cod, when the Lakes Region of New Hampshire has so many lovely lakes? That said, there are lots of ponds and lakes on Cape Cod that offer lovely alternatives to salt water beaches.

The town of Harwich has six beautiful ponds, five of which require a sticker for parking. (Hinkley’s Pond offers no parking, and thus, requires no sticker.) In general, you pay to park at beaches on Cape Cod. None of the beaches I know of charge anything for walk-on traffic.

The bottom line is, if you love to swim, or lounge on a beach, the Cape has lots of variety to offer. It must have something pretty awesome to offer to justify some of those traffic jams getting to Cape Cod from Western Massachusetts.